Keep it Flat: A Little History on Flat Earth

Like a giant tortoise shell, with a dome or without… The many different forms of flat earth are a map-like portrayal of dissent, a final bastion to refute modernity. What is flat earth theory? How does it commandeer political and scientific events and propose an alternative narrative? The theory emerged in the 19th century in opposition to the very idea of modernity. Yet, from trains to YouTube videos, radio, and photography, the flat earthers have—and continue to do so—skillfully capitalized on every available means of spreading information to cast doubt on the Earth’s roundness in a bid to gain followers by opposing scientific and political institutions. Keep it Flat. A Little History on Flat Earth brings together the views of a design theorist (Alexandra Midal), a neuroscientist (Albert Moukheiber), two designers (Antoine Foglé and Emma Pflieger) and curators Jolanthe Kugler and Scott Longfellow in an attempt to eschew the Manichean vision that generally drives the collective subconsciousness and to understand the underlying mechanisms on which flat earth theory is grounded.